1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a liquid-ejecting head including a piezoelectric element which changes the pressure in a pressure-generating chamber communicating with a nozzle opening and which includes a piezoelectric layer and electrodes for applying a voltage to the piezoelectric layer, a liquid-ejecting apparatus, and a piezoelectric element.
2. Related Art
Piezoelectric actuators for use in liquid-ejecting heads include piezoelectric elements each including two electrodes and a piezoelectric layer which is made of a piezoelectric material, such as a crystallized piezoelectric material, having an electromechanical transducing function and which is sandwiched between the electrodes. A typical example of the liquid-ejecting apparatuses is an ink jet recording head including a diagram forming a portion of a pressure-generating chamber communicating with a nozzle opening for ejecting ink droplets. The ink jet recording head ejects ink droplets in such a manner that the diagram is deformed with a piezoelectric element such that ink in the pressure-generating chamber is pressurized.
A piezoelectric material used to form a piezoelectric layer (piezoelectric ceramic) making up the piezoelectric element needs to have high piezoelectric properties. A typical example of the piezoelectric material is lead zirconate titanate (PZT) (see JP-A-2001-223404).
In awareness of environment issues, piezoelectric materials with a reduced lead content are being demanded. An example of lead-free piezoelectric materials is BiFeO3, which has a perovskite structure represented by the formula ABO3. Since BiFeO3 piezoelectric materials have a strain less than that of lead zirconate titanate (PZT), piezoelectric materials having a large strain and excellent piezoelectric properties are being demanded.
Such an issue is present not only in the ink jet recording head but also in liquid-ejecting heads ejecting droplets other than ink droplets and piezoelectric elements for use in heads other than the liquid-ejecting heads.